Grandpa

Robert Steven Patterson, my grandpa, passed away suddenly this past Sunday morning. We got a call quite early in the day with the news. We spent the day with family, finding comfort in each other and in the idea of him being with Grandma again. Grandpa has always been this pillar of strength and unity in our family. I was always so proud to be a Patterson because so many people knew of him and thought highly of him. There were so many that had been helped and loved by him. It almost feels like our family is now missing those structural supports of Grandma and Grandpa. But I'm glad they are together again. We are grateful to have Janet in our lives and are grateful for her strength through all of this.

Grandpa taught me so much. Whether it was object lessons on fairness or patience, teasing and joking me out of grumpy moods, letting me borrow his car, teaching us how NOT to cheer at sports games, meeting him for lunch while I was going to school, him providing opportunities for growth through his "heavy" lectures, his patriarchal blessings, his steadfast example and encouragement to live life and to have fun - he always let us know that he was there and would be there to support us through anything.

I got to know him better through a project that he gave me last year. He had given many talks in the church over his years of service and I think he had handwritten 97% of them - in his beautiful script. After our last trip to Utah before Grandma passed away, I brought home a huge stack of papers and was privileged to go through and type them up. I had it reaffirmed to me that my Grandpa had great faith, loved jokes, loved my Grandma, loved our family and loved God. He rarely missed an opportunity to express those feelings. I will miss him very much.